Goa polls: Politicians conspiring with land sharks?

Goa: As Goa goes to the polls early next month, the issue of corruption and land are foremost. An income tax investigation has exposed how politicians are conspiring with real estate and land sharks to sell Goa for a song.

Indicted in the income tax order, which has been accessed by CNN-IBN, is minister Babush Monserrate who is being fielded by the Congress in the upcoming polls.

Monserate got kickbacks worth Rs 27 crore to convert large tracts of farmland into settlement zones in 2006. Monserrate was then town and country planning minister. Suryanarayana, believed to have been close to Monserrate then, later resigned to become a real estate broker.

The income tax order now served on the bureaucrat reveals that Suryanarayana formed a syndicate of real-estate developers just as Monserrate announced his regional plan 2011 for Goa.

The Minister promised to convert 11 huge properties from old Goa to Dona Paula for the settlement for which Monsratte was paid Rs 24.75 crores through one Sadiq Sheikh of Essar Builders Suryanaryana's buyers paid Rs 19.75 Crores between April and August 2006 to Sadiq Sheiklh Rs 4.99 crores were routed through Suryanarayana's wife N Sunitha's Andhra Bank account.

The IT order then tracks the money trail to Monserrate-Sheikh transferred land at Sancoale worth Rs 11.58 crores to Good Earth Developers, owned by Monseratte's son.

He also advanced Rs 15 Crores to Raj Hospitality Pvt Ltd in which Monserrate, wife Jennifer and son Rohit are Directors.

Like in the 2G scam where Kalaingar TV claimed to have received Rs 214 crores from DB Realty as a loan and in that too the Monserrates claimed Rs 15 crores. Sadiq Shikeh when questioned told the IT department the amount was for purchase of shares. Neither side this order says could provide documentary evidence to support their claims.

Monserrate is now a Congress candidate in the upcoming polls an election in which corruption will be a key issue.